Bentonia, Mississippi, was the hometown of
Henry Stuckey (1897 — 1966;
1), founder of the Bentonia style of Blues, and his two famous students,
Skip James (June 9, 1902 — October 3, 1969;
1,
2,
3,
4) and
Jack Owens (November 17, 1904 — February 9, 1997;
1,
2). Bentonia is also home of the historic
Blue Front Café, Mississippi’s
oldest and continuously open Juke Joint, where owner
Jimmy “Duck” Holmes (born 1947;
1,
2,
3) keeps it authentic, especially when he breaks out his box for an impromptu performance.

No other small town in the world can claim the uniqueness and prolificity of great blues artists as Bentonia.
Henry Stuckey,
Skip James,
Jack Owens,
Jimmy “Duck” Holmes,
Benjamin “Bud” Spires (May 20, 1931 — March 20, 2014;
1,
2,
3,
4),
Jacob Stuckey (1,
2,
3),
and Cornelius Bright (1,
2,
3)
all honed (and the extant continue…) their craft in and around Bentonia, especially at the Blue Front Café. Jimmy’s parents
founded the Blue Front in 1948, and Jimmy continues to open it every day after both his
parents passed in the early ‘70s. Check back often for the latest news about some of the most unusual and authentic Mississippi Delta Blues still performed in the exact location where it originated.